Marathon voice director Elias Toufexis responds to online hate around Bungie’s shooter, saying players can criticize the game without rooting for it to fail.
Bungie’s extraction shooter, Marathon, has had a rough road online. The PvPvE extraction shooter launched on March 5, 2026, and while its Steam reviews and general player reception have been extremely positive, the conversation around the game has been much harsher in some corners of the internet, especially on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
A lot of that reaction has only grown louder after Bungie announced last week that Destiny 2 will receive its final live-service content update on June 9, 2026. Bungie says the game will remain playable, but active development is coming to an end as the studio turns toward “a new beginning.”
For many Destiny fans, that news hit hard, and some have blamed Marathon for pulling time, people, and attention away from Bungie’s massively popular looter shooter.
Marathon voice director Elias Toufexis calls out players rooting for Bungie’s game to fail
Now, Elias Toufexis, the voice of Adam Jensen in Deus Ex and voice director and actor on Marathon, has weighed in on the online hate around Bungie’s shooter. His comments come from a new PC Gamer interview at GDC, where he talked about the frustration of seeing people spend hours attacking games they do not like.
Toufexis made it clear that he is not against criticism. He said players have every right to dislike Marathon, criticize Bungie, or skip the game completely. What he does not understand is the habit of turning that dislike into a campaign where people actively hope the game fails.
“I understand Bungie made a game, Destiny 2, that people loved, and then they kind of were like, ‘We’re gonna put that on hold, and we’re gonna work on Marathon.’ People got upset about that. Cool, don’t play Marathon. That’s fine, speak with your wallet, that’s fine,” Toufexis said.
But he pushed back on people posting hate and memes for hours, including comments calling Marathon “Concord 2.” He also called out claims that Bungie deserves to fail because of supposed “woke leftist ideology,” saying he does not understand where that angle is coming from.
“Critique the game? Critique my work? Totally acceptable. But there’s people that go on Twitter and post memes: ‘This is Concord 2, this is Concord 2.’ Why are you spending hours doing this … How do you hope something fails?
“I saw some guy, like, I don’t want to get into specifics, but they’re just like, ‘I hope Bungie fails because of the woke leftist ideology.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m working with four white guys and two white women. I don’t understand this. Where are you getting this?’
“People just want to hate,” he said. “I don’t really understand it. It’s sad more than anything.”
Even with the online hate, it looks like Sony and Bungie are still putting more focus on Marathon. Reports have claimed Bungie is shifting attention toward Marathon, with some Destiny 2 staff already moved over to the project.
Marathon is also heading into Season 2: Nightfall on June 2, with Night Marsh map (night version of the Dire Marsh map), a new Runner shell called Sentinel, and a ton more stuff. Marathon will also be testing PvE modes in the future.
What do you think about Toufexis’s comments and the overall backlash towards Marathon online? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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